The Bones of Scourge: A message sent
by Pure Zealot
Summary: An unknown force gives StarClan a warning. "Find the ones living in the Old Forest who recite certain words. They plot to destroy the clans." But, will StarClan heed the warning? Who plans to destroy the clans? And could they do it before the next full moon?


**The Bones of Scourge**

 _A message sent_

Cold rain loudly dropped mercilessly from a grayed sky. It seemed like it had a will of it's own; like it was purposefully imitating both snow and thunder, with the intention of keeping the roads and alleyways desolate. Even the occasional ball of hail fell to the ground in hopes of making a curious individual regret their choice.

But that wouldn't bother the lone figure in the least. Whereas spineless cowards scramble for shelter whenever a change in the weather that was deemed "uncomfortable" happened along, he welcomed it. He, and those like him, knew what they truly were: a blessing in disguise. A chance for one to get stronger through pain and discomfort. The opportunity for one to find food, expand territory, or accomplish other goals while the pathetic majority left the open world barren. That is what he and his allies did, why they became so successful in a short amount of time. The figure glanced around. 'these idiots hiding right now could be so much more if they didn't waste moments like this,' he thought.

Despite what he liked to imagine, though, he had limits. They all did, and his allies constantly reminded him not to go too far. He would get frustrated, but always relent. After all, he wouldn't be of any use if he " indulged in his joy" all the time.

Even so, he had a mission. And he would see it completed: no matter how much rain in his fur weighed him down, how deep he walked in flooding water, how much the rain distorted his senses, how many scars the hail reopened. He will never fail his allies. After all, they were his family, his reason for living. Nothing like the sad, pathetic, useless, arrogant, Kitty-pet filth he once called his parents and littermates. 'Good thing they found me when they did', he thought to himself. 'Had things been different, if i had stayed in that life…'

The cat shuddered, and force his mind away from the mental image out of disgust.

He refocused. 'Besides' he reminded himself,'If this mission goes as planned, it would mean the beginning of everything my "family" had been waiting for.'

A moment of reckoning.

That brief moment of anticipation aside, this important mission would give him time to spend with his best friend. And only friend. While he loves his "family", he just can't connect with them like that. Never mind that he would never let himself be seen as anything other than an absolutely loyal follower by his allies, and a blood-thirsty horror by his enemies. But his friend seemed to break through that well-crafted illusion of his. 'How that happens is way beyond-'

Both his thoughts and his paws halted as he noticed something in his distorted vision. The silhouette of a sat not too far from him. The cat hissed in annoyance. He would have already noticed it if not for the rain. As he turned his full attention back to the figure, it sat up, and the faint smell creeped its way past the bombardment of the water scent. And realization struck; ironic, as the creature started rushing towards the young tom, who sat down, preparing for the in inevitable. He closed his eyes, focusing on that scent getting stronger by the moment.

Dog.

-Break-

Crushing Stone waited patiently in the cold rain. Or, as patient as a hyper dog like her could, at least.

Patience in general was not her strong suit. Anyone who knew her (or, at least, had a conversation lasting more than two sentences) could've told you that. She was born for battle, and had to be ready to move. Staying still for too long made her antsy. And the rain certainly did not help the matter. The continuous thundering and overwhelming scent would make it easier for someone to sneak up on her. But even she knew the importance of duty, and her loyalty to the pack would never come into question if she could help it. 'Besides', she thought to herself, I'm too excited about-". *sniff*

She stiffened, then lifted her nose in the air.*sniff* *sniff* *sniff*.

'cat' she thought. Looking around, she noticed ahead of her a shadowy figure pushing through the small flooding. It stopped, probably taking notice of her. The scent of the cat, already faint due to the rain, was lined with another. 'Blood' , she deduced.

As realization struck the cat, Crushing Stone found herself standing up, then darting forward. Cutting through the flood and the rain alike, she focused solely on her target. The victim in question closed his eyes and sat in preparation for the inevitable. She let her instincts take hold, and jumped, knocking the cat down with ease. She positioned her head over his neck, let it fall, and started… licking. Quite playfully.

The helpless cat, despite being crushed and tickled simultaneously, managed to plead for mercy. "Please, [inhale], Crushing Stone, [inhale], stop!" he begged.

Crushing Stone paused. "But I'm so happy to see you, Howling Bone!" she yipped, before continuing her assault.

-Break-

Eventually, Howling Bone and Crushing Stone neared their destination (albeit one less clean and more violated than they would've preferred). Putting the town behind them, they came across a fence. They reached the farm. As the two unlikely friends crawled under, Howling Bone turned to his excitable companion and asked, " You're sure these are the ones we want?"

When they both crawled out, Crushing Stone gave a false whine, and in a clearly false sad tone, proceeded to mock her friends. "Howl, after all this time and all we've been through, you don't trust me? I'm fatally wounded, you monster!"

"Oh, monster. How original. It's not like I haven't had that thrown at me by pathetic cowards before", Howl retorted. Grinning, he added, " Besides, in the time I've known you, it's not like you've never given me a reason to, Crush".

"I'm sorry, were you talking to me, or your fighting skills?", the brindle dog shot back.

"Amazing! You payed attention long enough to learn to insult someone.", The gray cat stated with false interest.

"Your mean, ya' know that?", she replied, masking her amusement with a look of frustration.

"It's part of my charm.", Howl stated condescendingly. He then switched to a serious tone. "But, seriously. How do you know your intel isn't wrong?"

"The dogs I heard it from say they once encountered two cats living in the barn; gorging themselves on mice and evading any and all dogs, even them," Crush reported. "If they had been lying, they wouldn't have spoken so highly of cats that embarrass dogs", Howl nodded, and Crush continued, "Plus, a pack mate of mine scented cat here. And there've been rumors of cats in the barn since there was still a forest."

"That's very reassuring, thanks", He announced sincerely.

"See, I am reliable, worrier". She tossed at him.

"Do you know who we're after, Crush?" he asked while shooting her a look. "Yep!", she barked happily. After a moment, she barked just as happily, "Nope!"

Before Howl could explain, Crush interrupted, "But do they look like that?", she asked while nodding her head forward. Howl stopped, and was faced with the realization that the two of them had walked to the barn that Crush talked about. And he had been none the wiser. On top of that, he made note of two cat like shapes at the entrance. One black shape on the ground, and one brown shape standing over it. 'I need to stay focused. The rain is messing with my senses enough as it is.' he thought, frustrated with himself. Meanwhile, Crush listed the questions she wanted. 'First of all, was Howl not paying attention, or do I get to rub my senses in his face, too? Second, who are these cats, and why does Howl and his "allies" want them so bad? I know they're probably going to kill them, but that can't be all. Third, have these two really not seen us yet?" But the only question she could whisper to her best friend was, "Do you smell death?"

Howl put a hold on his self-criticism and sniffed the air. "Actually, I do." Hopping his dark-gray back would blend into the horizon, he crouched and stalked forward, his dog friend in tow. As he looked closely at the targets, he he understood what was going on. "Ah. The black one is dead; his friend is in mourning.", he whispered to Crush. "Damn. I was hoping to get both. It's alright, we need only one."

"So, why does your 'family' want them?" The dog asked curiously.

"Questioning", the cat replied with noticeable anxiousness. "They have answers to questions my superiors have been asking for quite a while. With those answers will come the beginning of-".

"Hey. Your crazy zealot is showing.", Crush interrupted in a sing-song tune. " Save that for later, Howly. So, can we do this the fun way?"

"You go feral on him, and I act all scarry while you hold him before I knock him out? I never waste our time together.", Howl stated. "Have fun. But don't kill him, others back home want to play."

The dog nodded, stood up snarling, and charged forward from his right at top speed.

-Break-

The old, brown cat didn't know what hit him, until it was too late. As he hit the ground, he felt the bones in his left foreleg shatter like fallen leaves beneath his paw in what his friend called "leaf-fall". His enormous assailant wasn't finished there, though. He felt himself lifted off the ground like a piece of prey, only to be slammed back down on his right side. And once more on his back. While he could feel broken bones in his shattered shattered foreleg, he had never known pain like this.

'How can anyone be so cruel?', he wondered.

-Break-

'I love watching her work' Howl thought to himself as he stared at the beating in awe. Crushing was named appropriately.

As the dog lay her victim down, Howl made his way forward. In doing so, he stepped on the dead cat's tail. The victim struggled to get up at that. "Leave Ravenpaw alone. Have you no respect for the dead?"

"Ravenpaw? Well, then that must mean you're Barley.", Howl said smugly. Turning to his friend, he added, " Your intel was good. I guess you're good for something after all." Crush rolled her eyes.

Turning back to Barley, he stated, " My name is Howling Bone, and I've been looking for you and your friend. You see, my superiors heard you may have some information, so we're going to take you to answer some questions. Oh, and we also heard you committed a certain crime against some of your closest friends. A crime you have yet to pay for." He lifted his paw above Barley's face. "So I hope you've said your goodbyes to your friend. You won't be joining him for quite a bit… just until you stop being useful… or when we get bored."

The paw struck downwards, and Barley's head landed with a *thud*.

 **Author's note: This is my second Fanfiction, so I would appreciate constructive criticism.**

 **Quick heads up, I will be posting the Allegiances next chapter, but it will be missing some info for the sake of the plot. I will be adding updated Allegiances every so often as character and other elements are added and taken out. This story will take place after the great battle, but I haven't read Bramblestar's Storm. All and all, at this point, I'm taking suggestions, and will continue to until I state otherwise further in the story.**

 **Leave them in the comments section, and I will give you credit at the end of every Chapter. Your help will be most appreciated.**

 **Thank you,**

 **Pure Zealot**


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